.Ontario coroner to probe cycling deaths

Doored to death, that one. Here in Toronto we know that comes with a mandatory $90 fine, plus the victim surcharge, for a grand total of about $110 and no demerit points. I suspect many in Ottawa were surprised to learn of this.

When I commute, I have a series of axioms running through my head. One of them is "trucks are death". I will never lane-share with, or filter next to, a truck that has open wheels. Now I remember how I came to that axiom:

Originally Posted by Coroner's Report

A different picture emerged when an analysis of vehicle type by licensed class was applied to the 38 cyclist fatalities. While Class G vehicles still accounted for the majority of fatal collisions, large vehicles were involved in 37 per cent of collisions resulting in cyclist fatalities (compared with only eight per cent of collisions resulting in cyclist injuries). This difference must be attributed to an increased likelihood of cyclist fatality in collisions with large vehicles. For example, there was one cyclist fatality for every 125 non-fatal collisions involving large vehicles (Class A, B, C, D and M) as opposed to one cyclist fatality for every 488 non-fatal collisions involving Class G motor vehicles. Thus, it appears that a cyclist's collision with a large vehicle is approximately four times more likely to result in cyclist fatality than a cyclist's collision with a Class G vehicle.

Other axioms include: Taxis are out to kill you; avoid any trucks with lettering on them (especially lettering that advertises a construction company); running a light is a good way to die; BMWs are aggressive; Volvos and Mercedes are not; never assume that someone will not cut you off.

These axioms may not be true 100% of the time, and they may not be for everyone, everywhere, but they get me home safe.

Doored to death, that one. Here in Toronto we know that comes with a mandatory $90 fine, plus the victim surcharge, for a grand total of about $110 and no demerit points. I suspect many in Ottawa were surprised to learn of this.

Yes, for crying out loud i can't believe all the doorings and near doorings i see in Toronto. People need to stop flinging the door open blindly just because the lane marker is a few feet away and traffic won't rip your door off!

There was another study done by the coroner probably a decade about, with numerous recommendations... however as i understand none of these findings will be binding in anyway - at least it seems that way since most of the last probe's findings were left in the floor.

As is Canada's Worst Handyman. If you ever wonder why hand tools have all those safety & warning labels on them, well, watch the show.

I'm actually rather surprised that no one's gotten Darwin'd yet on those shows.

As for doorings, one of the things I learned in my brief bike messenger stint is to look at the sideview mirror on all parked cars. If you see a face in the mirror, assume that the driver will attempt to door you or drive into you and ride accordingly.

True to form, last night's episode of Canada's Worst Driver featured the usual panoply of malcontents, psychopaths and menaces that's made the show so dear to me. Honestly, every time I watch this show, I wonder how more people don't die on the roads every year!

Please enjoy seeing this terrible collection of me - something wonderful is about to happy.

I dunno.... BMW drivers might seem more aggressive than some, especially on the highway, but as a cyclist, I've had more close calls with inattentive soccer moms/dads in minivans/SUVs/station wagons in a rush -- to whom I appear invisible -- and blue collar redneck types in pickup trucks who actually DO see me and either don't give a crap or believe bikes don't belong on roads.

But I'm totally with you on axioms. Mine are: 1) Assume every driver making a turn at an intersection doesn't see you; 2) Every parked auto is a potential dooring and every auto approaching from behind nearing an intersection is a potential right-hook waiting to happen, so ride just far enough out from the curb to prevent either. Sure, it will upset some motorists wanting to pass, but I value my life and well being more than the convenience of saving them a few seconds on their drive to work.

True to form, last night's episode of Canada's Worst Driver featured the usual panoply of malcontents, psychopaths and menaces that's made the show so dear to me. Honestly, every time I watch this show, I wonder how more people don't die on the roads every year!

Remember the guy a few seasons back who brake checked tractor trailers because they pissed him off? I've seen that happen on the 401, except it ended in a Darwin when the truck just ran him over. And back when I worked in a bike shop, we saw a guy cave in the entire side of a customer's car while attempting to pull out of a parking space. Having seen real life examples of the stupidity that goes down in the show I'm pretty sure it's real.

The cast of characters is a bit formulaic (the bimbo, the speed demon, the texter, the befuddled granny, the panicky lady, the angry mom, the ambiguous sexuality guy...) but it's always entertaining. It's hard to believe some of these people ever earned their licenses in the first place!

Please enjoy seeing this terrible collection of me - something wonderful is about to happy.

The cast of characters is a bit formulaic (the bimbo, the speed demon, the texter, the befuddled granny, the panicky lady, the angry mom, the ambiguous sexuality guy...) but it's always entertaining. It's hard to believe some of these people ever earned their licenses in the first place!

I'm just waiting for the host to get run-over...

BTW, volvo is statistically the most likely luxury brand car to be involved in an accident. It makes sense since people buy them because they're safe - i.e. crashing into something is first and foremost on their mind, perhaps they even plan on it. I think the same thing sorta goes for soccer moms in SUV - daddy thinks baby needs something big because mommy is a scary ass driver. Or something... It's not like you ever get to see these drivers coming, only afterwards does it make more sense. Maybe i'm bitter about large cars because on multiple occasions i've almost been turned into a smear of "lipstick" on the road by fabulous women in gigantic luxury SUVs who are seriously putting that makeup allover their face instead of watching where their mirrors are or they're just txt'n away or digging through that gigantic ass handbag. If you ask me they should be painting bozo the clown on their faces instead!

Apparently a group of "experts" the Canadian safety council, think using a cell phone, listening to music and not wearing a helmet are the significant factors for cyclists being run-over. Not right-hooks and doorings... as the hospital admissions note.

That hasn't been my experience at all. I've never been hit by a car on the sidewalk or off-road. Golly, I sure hope we aren't paying for this blatantly disingenuous safety advice with our taxpayer dollars.

Oh yes it's real and the drivers on it are frequently worse than you can imagine.
Watching it is a weird blend of laughter, frustration, anger and fear. Sometimes though the people on it get their comeuppance, a few years ago there was a kid who drove with no regard for safety, his or others, and was applying to be a police officer (a fact he used whenever he was pulled over to get out of the ticket). He was pretty much unrepentant.
Of the panel of judges on the show one is an officer and he made some calls...

Other axioms include: Taxis are out to kill you; avoid any trucks with lettering on them (especially lettering that advertises a construction company); running a light is a good way to die; BMWs are aggressive; Volvos and Mercedes are not; never assume that someone will not cut you off.

These axioms may not be true 100% of the time, and they may not be for everyone, everywhere, but they get me home safe.

Much simpler view.. learned this from the old man when I was about 10.

Treat everyone operating a vehicle like they are nuts and out to kill you.

Oh yes it's real and the drivers on it are frequently worse than you can imagine.
Watching it is a weird blend of laughter, frustration, anger and fear. Sometimes though the people on it get their comeuppance, a few years ago there was a kid who drove with no regard for safety, his or others, and was applying to be a police officer (a fact he used whenever he was pulled over to get out of the ticket). He was pretty much unrepentant.
Of the panel of judges on the show one is an officer and he made some calls...

When Angelina was one of the drivers and they made a big deal of her being from Sudbury, I told my Mom to keep an eye out for her on the road. She was mental!

Not really. What scares me is that these people are still out there driving around in their cars, their friends' cars, or some stolen cars even though their licenses have been suspended for a few years or taken away for life.

Not really. What scares me is that these people are still out there driving around in their cars, their friends' cars, or some stolen cars even though their licenses have been suspended for a few years or taken away for life.

i would say the current auto insurance rates scare me... and weak sauce licensing...

i would say the current auto insurance rates scare me... and weak sauce licensing...

Man, don't even get me started on our piss-poor licensing standards, that's something that I've been known to rant about for hours. Let's put it this way, I should've failed my driving test; I pulled into the parking space at the end of the test without signalling, that should've been an automatic failure but I only lost 6 points out of 100 for doing that and came out of the test with a 94. Which is ridiculous because there was no way I was perfect up to that point. And that was when graduated licensing was first introduced and they were being complete hardasses and failing a lot more drivers than usual to prove that it worked.

As for insurance rates, I have a perfect record and drive an older family sedan. There's a fair number of wheelsets that cost more than my insurance.

Sounds like the classic right-hook and getting dragged down under the rear wheel Worth noting that side-guards for large vehicles was one of the recommendations in the 1998 report.

Yeah, I saw this... slow, painful and just awful way to go out. May she rest in peace.

Even though it's not unlawful to pedal up the right side if there is space, just stay back. Driver might turn on you without signalling and you'll be in big trouble. If a large truck is coming up behind you at an intersection to turn right, move over left so they clearly can't get by.

Remember, right side - suicide. Just take to left and watch out for doors on either side!

[QUOTE=electrik;8608697]Yeah, I saw this... slow, painful and just awful way to go out. May she rest in peace.
Rob Ford stated that if a cyclist is killed on the roads of Toronto "It's their own fault, the roads were built for cars and trucks, not bikes"

The 2003 report had plenty of at-fault percentages, and they showed broad-daylight hit-from-behinds as the leading fatality source.

Motorists, police, and the vehicular cycling community put their hands over their ears and yelled la-la-la and went back to blaming headphones, lack of helmets, lack of bells, riding too far right in the lane, and whatever the hell else would remove the need for them to personally do anything different.

Of course, the solution being proposed is even more insane, that being to chant that "sidewalk cycling is dangerous" (which it often is) and then declare the need to build physically separated little bike paths along the sides of the road and tell us to use them.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration

Swarms of them. More than the cars on the road in many places. They seem to get along with the cars just fine, though I did get t-boned in Qian-an once when riding back to my hotel with a 2-4 on the back rack.

For anyone who's actually interested in making a submission to the review (as opposed to chit-chatting about it on the internetz, ), here's the low down:

Originally Posted by Ontario NEWSROOM

October 24, 2011

Dr. Andrew McCallum, Chief Coroner for Ontario is announcing that the Office of the Chief Coroner will be conducting a review of cycling deaths across the province. This review is being undertaken as a result of public concern surrounding the issue of cycling safety.

The review will be led by Dr. Dan Cass, Regional Supervising Coroner - Toronto West Region, and will include deaths from 2006 to 2010. The purpose of the review is to identify common factors that may have played a role in the deaths, and where possible, to make recommendations to prevent similar deaths. The review is expected to be completed in spring 2012. A report will be issued at its conclusion.

A coalition of groups including cyclists and seniors represented by lawyers Patrick Brown and Albert Koehl commended the Coroner's Office.

Members of the public are invited to offer comments or recommendations to the review panel before November 30, 2011, by writing to:

Anything you attach to a bicycle is going to hinder your movement as far as the length of the turn, the amount of work it takes — the gear that you're in — for you to get through the turn, Most times we say a bike is designed for one person, unless it's a tandem.".

Two things here:

1. He is suggesting the length of the bike-trailer set-up on the turn might have been a factor, when the other vehicle involved was a TRACTOR TRAILER?

2. Is he saying the bike trailer slowed her down? Should she have been going around the corner FASTER to be safe? A corner that had, among other things, a STOP SIGN?

The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration

Sergeant John Winter, with traffic services, said awareness and visibility are paramount for the safety of cyclists.

“How many times have you seen cyclists going outside the bike lanes to pass other cyclists at a high rate of speed, and cutting others off and disobeying the traffic lights and stop signs, so it works both ways,” he said.

I think the Sergeant must be the ranking NCO here. His opinion on the matter is more significant than that of the well-meaning but somewhat misguided Constable Smith.